The phrase "Qingyun teaches the bun on the head, the bright moon and the ear" comes from Li He's "Great Levee Song", which describes the beauty of the woman in the water town boat, and the ear ring mentioned in it is a kind of earring. Today, we will talk about the history of the development of earrings.
The origin of earrings can be traced back to the Neolithic era. Speaking of Yu Jue, many people know that it is a kind of ornament, in fact, it was originally a kind of earring. At present, the earliest Yujue was found at the Xinglongwa Cultural Site, which is pale green, is a semi-ring with a notch, and has a diameter of only 3.3 centimeters, and it is found in the ear of the remains, and the crack on the Yujue can be just stuffed into the ear hole, so it can be inferred that it is worn on the ear.
Similar jade seals have been found in other Neolithic tombs, mostly in the ear of the remains. In addition, the ear of the human idol discovered in the same period also has perforations, which can further support the function of Yu Jue as an ear ornament.
In addition to Yu Jue, there is another kind of earring, that is, the ear ring we mentioned at the beginning. There are two shapes of the ear rings: one in the shape of a mushroom and one in the shape of a waist drum. The wearing method is slightly different from that of Yu Jue, but it also requires ear piercings, which are directly inserted into the ear piercings and stuck by the edges of the ear piercings.
However, with the development of human society and the change of concepts, in addition to the habit of ethnic minorities to wear earrings, the Central Plains culture began to think that it was a barbaric and immoral act to damage their own bodies to wear ornaments. As a result, earrings gradually faded from people's lives and entered the trough of development.
According to records, it was not until the Song Dynasty that earrings were truly accepted by secularism and etiquette. From the material point of view, the earrings of the Song Dynasty are mostly gold and silver, and some earrings are also embedded with a small number of gemstones, of which pearls are the most precious, and only royal women can wear them. The costumed portrait of Empress Song Renzong, now in the National Palace Museum in Taipei, China, wears a long string of pearl earrings on and around her ears.
The Yuan Dynasty was a dynasty established by the Mongols, and nomadic people originally wore earrings for both men and women, and wearing earrings was commonplace. For Mongolian men, earrings are not just jewelry, but also a symbol of status and status. In the portraits of successive emperors in the Yuan Dynasty, the ears are decorated with different styles of accessories. Mongolian women, the pursuit of jewelry is very fanatical, there are large tower-shaped gourd rings, "heavenly eggplant" earrings, card rings, flowers and fruits bee butterfly earrings and other exotic earring styles, and then inlaid with various types of jewelry, making the earrings more colorful.
In the Ming Dynasty, earrings became a must-wear thing for women, and the craftsmanship of earrings was very elaborate. This pomp and circumstance continued until the Qing Dynasty.
The earrings of the Qing Dynasty can be roughly divided into 2 types, one for han people to wear, mainly gold and silver, jade, and then with a variety of gemstones; the other for manchus to wear, pay attention to "one ear and three tongs". Later, with the fusion of cultures, this "one ear and three tongs" style gradually degenerated. However, today's trendy men and women will also have a few more ear piercings, just like the one ear and three tongs of the past.
The ear has been passed down through the ages, and earrings have become an indispensable part of today's women's jewelry. With the liberation of the mind, there are more and more types and styles of earrings. Earrings have witnessed the change of dynasties in China, and the development of earrings reflects the development of the times.